Staff Reporter :
A mock-up coach of metro rail will be on public display on March 17 to mark celebration of the birth centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, officially termed as “Mujib Borsho”.
The replica coach will display to let exhibitors and mass people know how the metro rail will function in the country. The mock-up coach was brought out from a container at the Metro rail depot in Uttara’s Diabari on Monday. The display will begin at the exhibition and information centre of Mass Rapid Transit (MRT)- 6 in Dhaka’s Uttara on March 17.
There, people will be able to learn about the looks of the train’s inside and the ticket-buying process, said MAN Siddique, Managing Director of Dhaka Mass Transit Company Ltd (DMTCL).
Siddique said they have brought the mock-up coach from Japan on December 26 last year and kept it inside the under-construction exhibition and information center at Uttara’s Diabari.
“On Monday, we unpacked the [mock-up] coach and installed it at the base of the exhibition center so that other incomplete work can be done smoothly,” he said.
He added all work will be completed soon and the mock-up coach will be opened for public in late next month. Besides, they will set up a mechanism there so that people can have first-hand experiences like how to buy tickets at a station, he said.
Construction work of the Tk 22,000-crore Mass Rapid Transit (MRT Line) -6, which began in 2016, has made 40.36 per cent progress as of January and is expected to open to public on December 16 in 2021, coinciding with the golden jubilee of the country’s independence.
Once completed, the rail service, which has 16 stations, will be able to carry 60,000 passengers per hour, reducing travel time from Uttara to Motijheel to at least less than an hour from the current two hours. More than nine kilometres of the 20.10km long viaduct is now visible and work is continuing on the remaining ones.
Meanwhile, the government decided to extend the line-now under construction from Uttara to Motijheel-up to Kamalapur Railway Station so that people can avail the rail service directly from the country’s largest railway station.
The topographical survey for it has already been done and now a “social survey” is being conducted. After completing the extension work, the total length of the rail route would be 21.26km with 17 stations.
The metro rail will be opened for commuters on December 16, 2021, as part of the 50th Victory Day celebrations. The Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL), a government-owned company, is implementing the 20.1 km long metro rail project. MRT line 6 will connect Uttara and Motijheel through Mirpur, Kazipara, Shewrapara, Agargaon, Farmgate, Karwan Bazar and Shahbagh.
In 2021, an estimated 500,000 people will commute by MRT Line 6 every day, officials said.
Commuters will be able to travel the entire distance in less than 40 minutes at an average speed of 100kmh. Movement by metro rail is expected to reduce traffic gridlock drastically in Dhaka.
